I've just bid a dollar on another expired name. I trust you guys, so I'm going to post the name - it's HourlyCoin.com. There is another 14 hours to go before I know if I am going to get the name. I'm the top bidder in an expired name dutch auction. Well top bidder is perhaps not the best description. I watched the name come down in price from a lot more than $1, and I waited until the BIN reached the dollar mark, and then I jumped in. As long as the current owner doesn't renew it, then I should get it. The name could be good for a faucet, but those are not as popular as they used to be. It looks as if the name has been in use for a few years, and it was a HYIP site. HYIP is defined as a High Yield Investment Programme, and it is usually a ponzi scheme, so it may be toxic and require a bit of cleaning up before it can be sold or used. HourlyCoin is registered in a number of other extensions, and that is usually a good sign.

Yesterday I noticed that GoogleRanking.com was siiting in the drop lists, and I must confess I was tempted. I'm not quite as fearful of names containing trademarks as most domainers, and I have owned a few in the past without any problems. One example is SonyVideo.com. Sony is a made up word, and it is heavily trademarked. In order to avoid problems, you need to follow a few rules. Things you must do -

State that you have no connection with the trademark holder or its affiliates

Affirm that you recognise the trademark, and the right of the owner

Provide clickable links to a few of the owner's pages that are related to the keywords in the domain name

Be prepared to transfer the name without charge should the owner request it

All of those should be prominent on the index page of the website.

Things you should no do -

Seek to gain any revenue from the trademark holder as a result of using the name

Attempt to sell the name to the trademark holder

Include any sponsored links to any products that are in competition or related to the TM holder.

Whilst "google ranking" would appear to be a nice keyphrase, I found it difficult to think of any way to monetise the name and gain a reasonable return. In view of this, I decided not to register the name.

Please remember that these comments are based on my limited knowledge, and that I have no legal training.

Treasure hunting for expired and deleted names must be one of my favourite occupations. It takes a lot of time, and gems are getting harder to find. I suspect that this is as a result of an influx of domain investors, and an increase in the number of people who are becoming self-employed in these difficult economic times.